Image processing method and display apparatus therefor providing shadow effect

ABSTRACT

An image processing method and a display apparatus therefor are provided. The display apparatus includes a display, a communicator that communicates with an external device; a memory storing one or more instructions; and a controller including a processor for executing the one or more instructions stored in the memory. The processor is configured to execute the one or more instructions to receive an image from the external device, obtain information about a first distance corresponding to a distance between a front surface of the display apparatus and a wall, and, when the image is displayed on the display, apply a shadow effect to one or more of sides of the image based on the information about the first distance.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/227,784, filed on Dec. 20, 2018, in the United States Patent andTrademark Office, and is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0178540, filed on Dec. 22,2017, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures ofeach of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The disclosure relates to an image processing method and a displayapparatus therefor.

More particularly, the disclosure relates to an image processing methodfor performing image processing to apply certain effects to certainimages and a display apparatus therefor.

Furthermore, the disclosure relates to an image processing method foradjusting a perspective or depth of an image output through a displayapparatus and a display apparatus therefor.

2. Description of the Related Art

Due to the popularization of displays and development of relatedtechnologies, display apparatuses having various forms and variousfunctions are being developed.

Accordingly, display apparatuses may be utilized to realize functionscorresponding to various needs or intentions of consumers.

For example, there may be a user who wishes to see the scenery or wallbehind the display apparatus that is covered by the display apparatus.Accordingly, a display apparatus including a transparent display panelis invented. In this case, the display may maintain the display panel ina transparent state except during reproduction of certain contents. Inthis case, a user may see scenery or a wall behind the display apparatusthat is covered by the display apparatus.

Furthermore, it is necessary to develop a function satisfying a desireor an intention of the user by using a general display apparatus usingan opaque display panel rather than a transparent display panel.

Also, in recent years, display apparatus products having pictureframe-like shapes are being released. Such a display apparatus having apicture frame-like shape may display a certain screen image, e.g., afamous painting or a photograph, unless a user is viewing certaincontents. In this case, the user may use and recognize the displayapparatus as a framed famous painting or a large picture frame.Therefore, when a user wants a display apparatus that implements apicture frame function, it is necessary to additionally develop adisplay apparatus satisfying such an intention of the user and and otherfunctions to be applied thereto.

As described above, it is necessary to provide a display apparatus thatsatisfies needs and intentions of various users.

SUMMARY

Provided are an image processing method capable of adjusting aperspective or a depth of a displayed screen image as desired by a userand a display apparatus therefor.

In detail, provided are an image processing method for enabling a userto receive an impression of continuity or consistency between adisplayed screen image and a wall behind a display apparatus and adisplay apparatus therefor.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the presented embodiments.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, a display apparatus includes adisplay; a communicator configured to communicating with an externaldevice; a memory including one or more instructions; and a controllerincluding at least one processor configured to execute the one or moreinstructions stored in the memory to obtain an image, obtain informationabout a first distance corresponding to a distance between a frontsurface of the display apparatus and a wall, and, when the image isdisplayed on the display, provide a shadow effect to at least one offour sides of the image based on the information about the firstdistance.

Also, the processor may execute the one or more instructions to adjustat least one of an area of a region in the image to which the shadoweffect is applied and darkness of a shadow in the region to which theshadow effect is applied, based on the information about the firstdistance.

Also, the processor may execute the one or more instructions to adjustan intensity of the shadow effect to generate a depth impression of theimage that corresponds to a depth impression of the wall behind thedisplay apparatus.

Also, the display apparatus may further include a sensor for sensing astate of a light source. Also, the processor may execute the one or moreinstructions to apply the shadow effect on at least one of four sides ofthe image based on the state of the light source and the first distance.

Also, the sensor may include a plurality of illuminance sensorsconfigured to sense an intensity and a direction of light from the lightsource. Also, the processor may execute the one or more instructions toadjust an intensity of the shadow effect applied to the image based onthe information about the first distance, and the intensity anddirection of the light from the light source.

Also, the processor may execute the one or more instructions todetermine a thickness of a virtual picture frame as a first thicknessbased on the information about the first distance, apply the shadoweffect in the virtual picture frame having the first thickness to theimage, and display the image having applied thereto the shadow effect inthe virtual picture frame having the first thickness.

Also, the processor may execute the one or more instructions to adjustat least one of an area of a region in the image to which the shadoweffect is applied and darkness of a shadow in the region to which theshadow effect is applied, based on the first thickness.

The display apparatus may further include a user interface. Also, theprocessor may execute the one or more instructions to: display a userinterface screen image for setting at least one of a color and a shapeof the virtual picture frame, and; control the user interface to receiveinformation about at least one of a color and a shape of the virtualpicture frame from a user and display the image having applied theretothe shadow effect in the virtual picture frame having the color andshape according to the received information.

The display apparatus may further include a user interface configured toreceiving a certain instruction or information. Also, the processor mayexecute the one or more instructions to display a user interface screenimage for receiving information about the first distance and control theuser interface to receive information about the first distance from auser.

The display apparatus may further include a user interface configured toreceiving a certain instruction or information. Also, the processor mayexecute the one or more instructions to display a user interface screenimage for receiving information about at least one window in a space inwhich the display apparatus is located for allowing light to be incidentinto a the space where the display apparatus is located.

Also, the processor may execute the one or more instructions to apply ashadow effect on at least one of four sides of the image based oninformation about the at least one window received via the userinterface and based on information about the first distance.

The display apparatus may further include at least one sensor configuredto sense a position of a user. Also, the processor may execute the oneor more instructions to apply the shadow effect on at least one of foursides of the image based on the position of the user and based on theinformation about the first distance.

According to an aspect of another embodiment, a method by which adisplay apparatus processes an image, the method includes obtaining animage; obtaining information about a first distance corresponding to adistance between a front surface of the display apparatus and a wall;when the image is displayed on a display included in the displayapparatus, applying a shadow effect on at least one of four sides of theimage based on the information about the first distance; and displayingthe image to which the shadow effect is applied.

Also, the applying of the shadow effect may include adjusting at leastone of an area of a region in the image to which the shadow effect isapplied and darkness of a shadow in the region to which the shadoweffect is applied, based on the information about the first distance.

Also, the applying of the shadow effect may include adjusting anintensity of the shadow effect to generate a depth impression of theimage that corresponds to a depth impression of the wall behind thedisplay apparatus.

Also, the applying of the shadow effect may include applying the shadoweffect to at least one of the four sides of the image based on theinformation about the first distance and based on a state of a lightsource sensed by using a plurality of illuminance sensors included inthe display apparatus.

Also, the applying of the shadow effect may include determining athickness of a virtual picture frame as a first thickness based on theinformation about the first distance, applying the shadow effect in thevirtual picture frame having the first thickness to the image, anddisplaying the image to which the shadow effect is applied in thevirtual picture frame having the first thickness.

The image processing method may further include displaying a userinterface screen image for setting at least one of a color and a shapeof the virtual picture frame, receiving information about the at leastone of a color and a shape of the virtual picture frame, and displayingthe image having applied thereto the shadow effect in the virtualpicture frame having the at least one of color and shape according tothe received information.

Also, the applying of the shadow effect may include applying the shadoweffect to at least one of the four sides of the image based on theinformation about the first distance and based on a position of the usersensed by using at least one sensor configured to sense the position ofthe user.

According to an aspect of another embodiment, there is provided anon-transitory computer readable recording medium having recordedthereon a computer program including instructions executable by acomputer, wherein the program including obtaining an image; obtaininginformation about a first distance corresponding to a distance between afront surface of a display apparatus and a wall; when the image isdisplayed on a display included in the display apparatus, applying ashadow effect on at least one of four sides of the image based on theinformation about the first distance; and displaying the image to whichthe shadow effect is applied.

According to an aspect of another embodiment, there is provided Adisplay apparatus comprising a display that displays, on a front surfacethereof, an image corresponding to a wall located behind the displayapparatus opposite from the front surface;

a memory storing one or more instructions; and at least one processorconfigured to execute the one or more instructions stored in the memoryto obtain information about a first distance corresponding to a distancebetween the front surface and the wall, apply a shadow effect to one ormore sides of the image based on the information about the firstdistance to generate a shadow effect image, and display the shadoweffect image.

Also, the information about the first distance may be the distancebetween the front surface and the wall.

Also, the distance may include a thickness of the display apparatus anda thickness of a wall mount to which the display apparatus is mounted.

Also, the distance may include a thickness of the display apparatus anda length of a stand on which the display apparatus is mounted.

Also, the distance may further comprise a distance between the stand andthe wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readilyappreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a space where a display apparatus is placed;

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a wall of the space shown in FIG. 1 in moredetail;

FIG. 2B is a diagram showing a display apparatus on a region of the wallshown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a display apparatus according to anembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a display apparatus according to anembodiment;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams for describing a first distance obtainedwith respect to a wall-mount type display apparatus;

FIGS. 5C and 5D are diagrams for describing a first distance obtainedwith respect to a stand-type display apparatus;

FIG. 6A is a diagram for describing a shadow effect applied in a displayapparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 6B is a diagram for describing a shadow effect applied in a displayapparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for describing an example of a screen imagedisplayed on a display apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for describing another example of a screen imagedisplayed on a display apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 9A is a diagram for describing a sensor included in a displayapparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 9B is another diagram for describing a sensor included in a displayapparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 10A is a diagram for describing an example of a screen imagedisplayed on a display apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 10B is a diagram for describing another example of a screen imagedisplayed on a display apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display apparatus in which a displaypanel has a curvature;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a position of a person recognized by adisplay apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface screen imagedisplayed on a display apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams showing other examples of user interfacescreen images displayed on a display apparatus according to anembodiment;

FIG. 15 is a diagram for describing another example of a user interfacescreen image displayed on a display apparatus according to anembodiment;

FIG. 16A is a diagram for describing an example of a screen imagedisplayed on a display apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 16B is a diagram for describing another example of a user interfacescreen image displayed on a display apparatus according to anembodiment;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a display apparatus according toanother embodiment; and

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an image processing method according to anembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like referencenumerals refer to like elements throughout. In this regard, the presentembodiments may have different forms and should not be construed asbeing limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Accordingly, theembodiments are merely described below, by referring to the figures, toexplain aspects. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and allcombinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Expressionssuch as “at least one of,” when preceding a list of elements, modify theentire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of thelist.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings. The disclosure may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearlyillustrate the disclosure, parts not related to the description areomitted, and like parts are denoted by like reference numeralsthroughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, it will be understood that when a portionis referred to as being “connected to” another portion, it can be“directly connected to” the other portion or “electrically connected to”the other portion via another element. In addition, unless explicitlydescribed to the contrary, the word “comprise” and variations such as“comprises” or “comprising” will be understood to imply the inclusion ofstated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements.

Appearances of the phrases ‘in some embodiments,’ ‘in certainembodiments,’ in various embodiments,' and similar language throughoutthis specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the sameembodiment, but mean ‘one or more but not all embodiments’ unlessexpressly specified otherwise.

Some embodiments may be described in terms of functional blockcomponents and various processing steps. Such functional blocks may berealized by any number of hardware and/or software components configuredto perform the specified functions. For example, the functional blocksof the disclosure may be implemented with one or more processors ormicroprocessors or circuit configurations for certain functions. Also,the functional blocks of the disclosure may be implemented with anyprogramming or scripting language. Functional blocks may be implementedin algorithms that are executed on one or more processors. Furthermore,the disclosure may employ any number of conventional techniques forelectronics configuration, signal processing, and/or data processing.The words “module”, “component”, “means”, and “configuration” are usedbroadly and are not limited to mechanical or physical embodiment.

Furthermore, the connecting lines, or connectors shown in the variousfigures presented are intended to represent exemplary functionalrelationships and/or physical or logical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships, physical connections or logical connectionsmay be present in a practical device.

Hereinafter, the disclosure will be described in detail with referenceto accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a space in which a display apparatus isplaced.

Referring to FIG. 1, a display apparatus 110 may be placed in a certainspace 100. Here, the display apparatus 110 is an electronic apparatusthat outputs an image through a screen 112. In detail, the displayapparatus 110 is an apparatus for visually outputting contents,advertisements, guide information, or user interface screen images to auser and may be in various forms like a TV, a digital broadcastingterminal, etc. Furthermore, the display apparatus 110 may have be in amobile form or a portable form as well as a stationary form.

As shown in FIG. 1, the display apparatus 110 may be a wall-mount typedisplay apparatus that may be attached to and detached from a wall andmay be mounted on a wall 120.

There may be a user who wishes to see scenery or a wall portion behindthe display apparatus 110 that is covered by the display apparatus 110.As in the example shown in FIG. 1, there may be a user who wishes to seea portion of the wall 120 covered by the display apparatus 110.

In this case, the display apparatus 110 may output an image of the wall120 on the screen 112. As a result, the user may enjoy a visual effectthat the display apparatus 110 became a transparent window.

Although FIG. 1 exemplifies a case where the wall 120 is a wall havingwallpaper attached thereto (see, for example, discussion below withreference to FIGS. 2A-2B), the wall 120 may be a transparent wall viawhich an outside landscape may be seen, e.g., a glass wall or a glasswindow. When the wall 120 is a transparent wall, the display apparatus110 may display an image of an outside landscape, which is visiblethrough the wall 120, on the screen 112.

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing the wall 120 shown in FIG. 1 in moredetail.

Referring to FIG. 2A, a region 200 is a region corresponding to the wall120 shown in FIG. 1 and includes a portion to be covered by the displayapparatus 110.

Hereinafter, a case in which a wall having certain wallpaper attachedthereto is behind the display apparatus 110 as shown in FIG. 2A will beexemplified and described. Therefore, the portion covered by the displayapparatus 110 may be a portion of the wallpaper attached to the wall120. .

Furthermore, FIG. 2A shows that wallpaper having a certain pattern isattached to the wall 120. However, the wall 120 behind the displayapparatus 110 may be a wall having wallpaper without a pattern attachedthereto or may be a wall having one of various other shapes andpatterns. Furthermore, the wall 120 behind the display apparatus 110 maybe a transparent wall like a glass wall or a window, through which anoutside landscape is visible.

FIG. 2B is a diagram showing a display apparatus on the region 200 ofthe wall shown in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 2B, a display apparatus 210 is disposed on the region200. Here, the display apparatus 210 is placed by being attached onto awall. The display apparatus 210 may display an image of a portion of theregion 200 (wall) corresponding to a screen 220, which is displayed viaa display of the display apparatus 210, on the screen 220.Alternatively, the display apparatus 210 may display a portion of theregion 200 (wall) covered by the display apparatus 210 on the screen220.

The display apparatus 210 captures an image of the region 200 (wall) anddisplays a portion of the image corresponding to the screen 220 of thedisplay apparatus 210 on the screen 220 as-is. Generally, the displayapparatus 210 has a certain thickness and a component for attaching thedisplay apparatus 210 to a wall, e.g., a wall mount, also has a certainthickness. Therefore, the screen 220 is located in front of the wall.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the screen 220 is in front of the region 200(wall). Therefore, when a user in the front of the display apparatus 210views the display apparatus 210, an image displayed on the screen 220has a smaller depth than that of a wall, and thus the user recognizesthe image of the wall displayed on the screen 220 as being closer to theuser than the actual wall. Therefore, as in a blocked portion 230, theuser recognizes that the screen 220 and the wall are inconsistent due toa difference in depth. Therefore, even when the display apparatus 210displays an image of the wall on the screen 220, the user may not get animpression of continuity or consistency with the actual wall.

Hereinafter, an image processing method and a display apparatus thereforaccording to an embodiment, the image processing method and the displayapparatus capable of providing consistency or continuity between asurface behind the display apparatus 210 (e.g., a wall) and an imagedisplayed on the display apparatus 210 in a case where the displayapparatus 210 displays an image corresponding to the surface behind thedisplay apparatus 210 will be described in detail with reference to theattached drawings.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a display apparatus according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, a display apparatus 300 according to an embodimentincludes a communicator 310, a controller 320, and a display 330.

The display apparatus 300 includes the display 330, the communicator 310that communicates with an external device (not shown), a memory 380 thatstores one or more instructions, and the controller 320 that includes aprocessor 322 for carrying out the one or more instructions stored inthe memory 380.

The controller 320 obtains an image. For example, the controller 320receives an image from an external device (not shown). The controller320 obtains information about a first distance corresponding to adistance between the front surface of the display apparatus 300 and awall, and, when the image obtained from the external device isdisplayed, controls the display apparatus 300 to provide a shadow effecton at least one of four sides of the image based on the informationabout the first distance.

Here, the ‘information about the first distance’ may include thedistance between the front surface of the display apparatus 300 and thewall. Alternatively, the ‘information about the first distance’ mayinclude information having a value proportional to the distance betweenthe front surface of the display apparatus 300 and the wall.Alternatively, the ‘information about the first distance’ may include atleast one of a mathematical expression or a calculation method capableof calculating the first distance, which is a distance between the frontsurface of the display apparatus 300 and the wall, and values used inthe mathematical expression or the calculation method. Alternatively,the ‘information about the first distance’ may include all relevantinformation for obtaining the distance between the front surface of thedisplay apparatus 300 and the wall.

Hereinafter, a case in which the ‘information about the first distance’includes the first distance, which is the distance between the frontsurface of the display apparatus 300 and the wall, will be described.

In other words, the controller 320 may receive an image from an externaldevice (not shown), obtain the first distance, which is a distancebetween the front surface of the display apparatus 300 and a wall, and,when the image obtained from the external device is displayed on thedisplay 330, control the display apparatus 300 to provide a shadoweffect on at least one of four sides of the image based on the firstdistance. In detail, at least one processor 322 included in thecontroller 320 may receive an image from an external device (not shown),obtain the first distance, which is a distance between the front surfaceof the display apparatus 300 and a wall, and, when the image obtainedfrom the external device is displayed on the display 330, control thedisplay apparatus 300 to provide a shadow effect on at least one of foursides of the image based on the first distance.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the memory 380 may be embedded in thecontroller 320. Therefore, the controller 320 may include the memory 380and at least one processor 322 to control operations performed in thedisplay apparatus 300 and may control other components included in thedisplay apparatus 300 to perform certain operations. In detail, theprocessor 322 included in the controller 320 may execute at least oneinstruction stored in the memory 380, which is embedded in thecontroller 320, to perform a certain operation.

Also, according to an embodiment, the at least one processor 322included in the controller 320 may control operations performed in thedisplay apparatus 300 and control other components included in thedisplay apparatus 300 to perform certain operations. Accordingly,although a case in which the controller 320 controls to perform certainoperations is described, at least one processor 322 included in thecontroller 320 may control to perform the certain operations.

In detail, the communicator 310 may receive an image of a wall behindthe display apparatus 300. Hereinafter, an image obtained by capturingan image of a wall behind the display apparatus 300 will be referred toas a ‘first image’. Here, the ‘first image’ may be an image of a portionof a wall covered by the display apparatus 300. In detail, the firstimage may be an image of a region of the wall corresponding to a screenof the display apparatus 300.

Also, the wall may be a transparent wall (e.g., a glass window) or anopaque wall (e.g., a wall having wallpaper attached thereto, or apainted wall, etc.). When the wall is a glass window, the first imagemay be an image of an outside landscape that is covered by the displayapparatus 300. Furthermore, when the wall is a wall having wallpaperattached thereto, the first image may be an image of a portion of thewallpaper covered by the display apparatus 300. Furthermore, when thewall is a wall that is painted, the first image may be an image of aportion of the painted call covered by the display apparatus 300.

In detail, the communicator 310 may receive a video (e.g., a movingpicture), an audio (e.g., a voice, a music, etc.), and/or additionalinformation (e.g., an EPG). In detail, the communicator 310 may includeone from among a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port (notshown), a component jack (not shown), a PC port (not shown), and a USBport (not shown). Also, the communicator 310 may include a combinationof an HDMI port, a component jack, a PC port, and a USB port. Althoughthis is only an example, and the communicator 310 is not particularlylimited, as long as the communicator 310 is capable of transmittinginformation for display to the display apparatus 300. For example, thecommunicator 310 may, in some embodiments, include one or more of theHDMI port, the component jack, the PC port, and the USB port.

In this case, the communicator 310 may directly receive video dataobtained by a user by photographing a portion of a wall covered by thedisplay apparatus 300 through the HDMI port, the component jack, the PCport, or the USB port.

Furthermore, the communicator 310 may include at least one communicationmodule (not shown) that transmits and receives data through awired/wireless communication network according to a certaincommunication standard. In this case, the communicator 310 may receivethe first image through the communication module. For example, a usermay obtain the first image by capturing an image of a wall by using asmartphone (not shown) of the user and transmit the first image to thedisplay apparatus 300 through a Wi-Fi communication network. In theabove example, the communicator 310 may include a Wi-Fi communicationmodule (not shown) and may receive the first image from the smartphoneof the user via the Wi-Fi communication module included in thecommunicator 310.

The controller 320 obtains information about the first distance.

In detail, the controller 320 may obtain the first distance, which is adistance between the front surface of the display apparatus 300 and thewall, as information about the first distance. In detail, the at leastone processor 322 included in controller 320 may obtain the firstdistance. The controller 320 may apply a shadow effect to the firstimage based on the first distance, such that a shadow appears on atleast one of four sides of the first image. Hereinafter, an imagegenerated by applying a shadow effect to the first image will bereferred to as a ‘second image’.

The display 330 displays the second image. In detail, the display 330may display the second image on a screen thereof

In detail, the display 330 may display an image corresponding to videodata through a display panel included in the display 330, such that auser may visually recognize the video data.

Furthermore, based on whether a display surface (e.g., a display panel)for displaying a screen image has a curvature, the display 330 may becategorized as a flat-panel display without a curvature and a curveddisplay in which a display panel is curved to a certain curvature. Thedisplay 330 may include various types of display panels corresponding tovarious light-emitting devices, e.g., an OLED panel, an LED panel, anLCD panel, or a PDP panel.

In detail, the controller 320 may apply a shadow effect to the firstimage, such that a user may recognize the second image with a same depthas that of a wall behind the display apparatus 300. In other words, whenthe display apparatus 300 displays an image corresponding to a wallbehind the display apparatus 300 on the display 330, the controller 320may generate the second image by applying a shadow effect to the firstimage, such that a user may recognize the second image displayed on thedisplay 330 as being consistent and continuous to the wall.

In detail, the controller 320 of the display apparatus 300 may adjust adepth applied to a screen image displayed on the display apparatus 300,such that the screen image of the display apparatus 300 is recognized ashaving a same depth impression as that of a wall behind the displayapparatus 300. In detail, at least one of an amount of a shadow appliedto an image displayed on a screen (e.g., a width and/or a thickness of aregion in which the shadow is expressed) and a quality (e.g., thedarkness of the shadow) may be adjusted.

Accordingly, a user recognizes that the second image, which is the imageof the wall displayed on the display apparatus 300, has the same depthimpression as that of the wall behind the display apparatus 300, andthus the user may feel continuity and consistency.

Furthermore, the controller 320 may adjust the magnification of theimage displayed on the screen of the display apparatus 300, such thatthe user recognizes the second image displayed on the display apparatus300 as being more consistent to the wall behind the display apparatus300. In detail, referring to FIG. 2B, when a user is positioned in frontof the display apparatus 210, the screen 220 of the display apparatus210 is closer to the user than the region 200 (wall) is. As a result,the pattern of wallpaper in an image displayed on the screen 220 is seenas being larger than the actual pattern of the wallpaper in the region200 (wall). Accordingly, the magnification of the image displayed on thescreen 220 may be adjusted, such that the pattern of the wallpaper inthe image displayed on the screen 220 has a same size as that of theactual pattern in the region 200 (wall). As a result, the discontinuityof the pattern of the wallpaper as in the blocked portion 230 iseliminated, and thus a user may recognize that the screen 220 of thedisplay apparatus 210 as being more consistent to the actual wall.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a display apparatus according to anembodiment.

A display apparatus 400 shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to the displayapparatus 300 shown in FIG. 3. In detail, a communicator 410, acontroller 420, a processor 422, a display 430, and a memory 480included in the display apparatus 400 correspond to the communicator310, the controller 320, the processor 322, the display 330, and thememory 380 included in the display apparatus 300, respectively.Therefore, descriptions of the display apparatus 400 identical to thedescriptions given above with those in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be omitted.Compared to the display apparatus 300 shown in FIG. 3, the displayapparatus 400 shown in FIG. 4 may further include at least one of acamera 440, a user interface 450, a sensor 460, and the communicator410.

The display apparatus 400 includes the display 430, the communicator 410that communicates with an external device (not shown), a memory 480 thatincludes one or more instructions, and the controller 420 that includesthe processor 422 for carrying out the one or more instructions storedin the memory 480.

The communicator 410 communicates with an external device (not shown).

In detail, the communicator 410 communicates with an external device(not shown) and obtains a first image, which is an image obtained byphotographing a wall behind the display apparatus 400. Here, the ‘firstimage’ may be an image of a portion of a wall covered by the displayapparatus 400. In detail, the first image may be an image of a region ofthe wall corresponding to a screen of the display apparatus 400.

The controller 420 obtains a first distance, which is a distance betweenthe front surface of the display apparatus 400 and the wall. Next, asecond image is generated by applying a shadow effect to the first imagebased on the first distance, such that a shadow appears on at least oneof four sides of the first image. In detail, the controller 420 mayreceive an image from an external device (not shown), obtain the firstdistance, which is a distance between the front surface of the displayapparatus 400 and a wall, and, when the image obtained from the externaldevice is displayed on the display 430, control the display apparatus400 to provide a shadow effect on at least one of four sides of theimage based on the first distance.

The display 430 displays the second image.

In the display apparatus 400, the controller 420 may control the overalloperation of the display apparatus 400.

In detail, the controller 420 controls the overall operation of thedisplay apparatus 400 and the signal flow between the internalcomponents of the display apparatus 400 and performs data processing.

According to an embodiment, the controller 420 may control thecommunicator 410 and other components including the communicator 410 toperform an operation for obtaining the first image, an operation forapplying a shadow effect to the first image, and an operation forgenerating the second image.

Furthermore, the controller 420 may include a memory storing one or moreprograms for performing the operations described above and operationsdescribed below and at least one processor 422 for executing the atleast one program stored in the memory.

In detail, the controller 420 may include a RAM (not shown), whichstores signals or data input from the outside of the display apparatus400 or is used as a storage space corresponding to various operationsperformed in the display apparatus 400, a ROM (not shown) in which acontrol program for controlling the display apparatus 400 is stored, andat least one processor.

The at least one processor 422 may include a graphic processing unit(GPU) (not shown) for graphics processing corresponding to a video. Theat least one processor 422 may be implemented as a System On Chip (SoC)in which a core (not shown) and a GPU (not shown) are integrated witheach other. The at least one processor 422 may include a single core,dual cores, triple cores, quad cores, and cores of multiples thereof

The user interface 450 may receive a user input for controlling thedisplay apparatus 400. The user interface 450 may include user inputdevices like a touch panel for sensing a touch of a user, a button forreceiving a push operation of the user, a wheel for receiving a rotationoperation of the user, a keyboard, and a dome switch. However, the userinterface 450 is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the user interface 450 may receiveinformation about the first distance from a user. In detail, the usermay directly input the distance between the front surface of a displayapparatus and a wall behind the display apparatus (the first distance)through the user interface 450.

Also, when a user interface screen image for setting the first distanceis displayed according to a control of the controller 420, the user mayoperate a first distance setting menu of the user interface screen imagethrough the user interface 450. Therefore, the controller 420 may setthe first distance based on the operation of the user. The userinterface screen image for setting the first distance will be describedbelow in detail with reference to FIGS. 14A and 14B.

Once information about the first distance is obtained, the controller420 may adjust the intensity of a shadow effect to be proportional tothe first distance, thereby creating the second image.

In detail, the controller 420 may adjust at least one of the area of aregion of the first image to which the shadow effect is applied and thedarkness of the shadow in the region to which the shadow effect isapplied, based on information about the first distance.

In detail, the controller 420 may adjust the intensity of the shadoweffect to be proportional to the first distance, thereby creating thesecond image. Here, the intensity of the shadow effect may varyaccording to at least one of an amount of a shadow applied to an imagedisplayed on a screen (e.g., a width and/or a thickness of a region inwhich the shadow is expressed) and a quality (e.g., the darkness of theshadow).

The communicator 410 may communicate with an external electronic device(not shown) or a server (not shown) via a wire communication or awireless communication. Hereinafter, the external electronic device (notshown) and the server (not shown) communicating with the communicator410 will be referred to as an “external device” altogether. Thecommunicator 410 according to an embodiment includes at least onecommunication module like a short-range communication module, a wirecommunication module, a mobile communication module, and a broadcastreceiving module. Here, the at least one communication module refers toa communication module capable of transmitting and receiving datathrough a network complying with a communication standard likeBluetooth, WLAN (Wi-Fi), wireless broadband (Wibro), worldInteroperability for microwave access (Wimax), CDMA, and WCDMA.

According to an embodiment, the communicator 410 may receive informationabout the first distance from an external electronic device (not shown),e.g., a mobile phone of a user using the display apparatus 400. Thecommunicator 410 may also receive the first image from an externalelectronic device (not shown), e.g., a mobile phone of a user using thedisplay apparatus 400.

The memory 480 may include at least one of certain data and programsincluding instructions for performing certain operation. Furthermore,the memory 480 may include at least one controller (not shown) forexecuting a certain program.

Furthermore, the memory 480 may store video data to be output to thedisplay 330.

In detail, the memory 480 may include at least one type of storagemedium from among a flash memory, a hard disk, a multimedia card microtype, a card type memory (e.g., an SD memory or an XD memory), a randomaccess memory (RAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a read onlymemory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory(EEPROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), a magnetic memory, amagnetic disk, and an optical disk.

According to an embodiment, the memory 480 may store at least oneprogram including instructions for performing the above-describedoperations. Alternatively, memory 480 may include at least onecontroller that executes a program including instructions for performingthe above-described operations.

According to an embodiment, the memory 480 may store at least one of thefirst distance, the first image, and the second image.

The sensor 460 may sense a state of a light source. Furthermore, thecontroller 420 may generate the second image by applying a shadow effectto the first image based on the state of the light source sensed by thesensor 460 and the first distance. In detail, the controller 420 mayadjust the intensity of the shadow effect based on the state of thelight source and the first distance. Then, the second image may begenerated by applying the shadow effect having the adjusted intensity tothe first image.

In detail, the sensor 460 may include a plurality of illuminancesensors. Accordingly, the controller 420 may generate the second imageby applying a shadow effect to the first image based on the state of thelight source detected by the illuminance sensors and first distance.Here, the illuminance sensors may sense at least one of direction ofincidence of light and intensity of light.

The illuminance sensors included in the sensor 460 will be describedbelow in detail with reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B.

The camera 440 may obtain an image by photographing at least one of afront surface and a rear surface behind of the display apparatus 400.According to an embodiment, the camera 440 may photograph a surfacebehind the display apparatus 400, thereby obtaining obtain the firstimage, which is an image corresponding to a portion of a wall covered bythe display apparatus 400. The camera 440 may transmit the first imageto the controller 420. The controller 420 may apply a shadow effect tothe first image.

Details of operations performed in the display apparatus 400 will bedescribed below with reference to FIGS. 5A to 16.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams for describing a first distance obtainedwith respect to a wall-mount type display apparatus. In FIGS. 5A and 5B,a display apparatus 510 corresponds to the display apparatus 400 shownin FIG. 4, and thus descriptions identical to those given above withreference to FIGS. 1 to 4 will be omitted.

Here, the wall-mount type display apparatus refers to a displayapparatus fixedly placed by being attached to a wall. A component forattaching and fixing a display apparatus to a wall is referred to as awall mount 520.

Referring to FIG. 5A, the display apparatus 510 includes the wall mount520 and is attached and fixed to a wall 501 through the wall mount 520.

A distance between the wall 501 and a screen 511, which is a surface fordisplaying a screen image, of the display apparatus 510 (e.g., avertical distance or the shortest distance) may be a sum of a thickness531 of the display apparatus 510 and a thickness 532 of the wall mount520.

Therefore, the first distance, which is a distance between the wall 501behind the display apparatus 510 and the screen 511 of the displayapparatus 510, may be a sum of the thickness 531 and the thickness 532.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the display apparatus 510 may have a shape that aborder is attached to edges of the screen 511. In detail, in the case ofa frame TV, a border having a picture frame-like shape is attached toedges of the screen 511. In this case, the border having a pictureframe-like shape is formed to protrude forward from the screen 511 asshown in FIG. 5B.

At this time, a thickness 541 including the border is not considered formeasuring the first distance. Therefore, regardless of the shape of thedisplay apparatus, the first distance may be measured as the shortestdistance between the screen 511 and the wall 501.

As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, when the display apparatus 510 displays animage of the wall 501 on the screen 511 (e.g., an image of wallpaperattached to the wall 501), the image is projected forward by a sum of afirst thickness, that is, a sum of the thickness 531 and the thickness532, from the wall 501.

In the case of a display apparatus 510 (wall-mount type), the firstdistance, which is the distance between the screen 511 and the wall 501,is a fixed value. In detail, the first distance is a sum of thethickness 531 of the display apparatus 510 and the thickness 532 of thewall mount. In other words, a user is unable to change the arrangementof the display apparatus 510 or the first distance even when the userwants to.

Therefore, in the case of the display apparatus 510 (wall-mount type),the first distance may be provided by a manufacturer, a retailer, and arelated service provider of the display apparatus 510.

In detail, the first distance may be input or received via thecommunicator 410 of display apparatus 510. Alternatively, the firstdistance may be stored in the controller 420 or in the memory 480 of thedisplay apparatus 510 in advance.

For example, a server managed by the manufacturer of the displayapparatus 510 (e.g., a service center server of the display apparatus510) may provide information about the first distance. The displayapparatus 510 may then access a server or a device providing informationabout the first distance and obtain the first distance.

For example, the display apparatus 510 may obtain the first distancethrough the communicator 410 before the display apparatus obtains ordisplays the first image. In detail, the controller 420 may access theservice center server of the display apparatus 510 through a Wi-Finetwork and obtain the first distance.

Alternatively, the display apparatus 510 may store information about thefirst distance in at least one of the controller 420 and the memory 480.As described above, since the first distance is a fixed value accordingto the product specification of the display apparatus 510, the displayapparatus 510 may store the first distance as information about theproduct specification.

Also, the display apparatus 510 may store product information like aproduct model, a serial number, a product version, etc. The controller420 of the display apparatus 510 may obtain the first distance by usingproduct information stored in the display apparatus 510. For example,the controller 420 may access the service center server of the displayapparatus 510 through the communicator 410 and transmit productinformation to the service center server. Then, the service centerserver may transmit information about the first distance correspondingto the product information of the display apparatus 510 to the displayapparatus 510 in response thereto.

FIGS. 5C and 5D are diagrams for describing a first distance obtained ina stand-type display apparatus. Components shown in FIGS. 5C and 5Didentical to those in FIGS. 5A and 5B are denoted by the same referencenumerals.

Here, the stand-type display apparatus refers to a display apparatusarranged as shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D using a stand 560 supported on abottom surface 550.

In FIG. 5C, for placing the display apparatus 510, the stand 560 may bearranged to be as close to the wall 501 as possible.

In this case, a distance between the screen 511 of the display apparatus510 and the wall 501 may be measured in consideration of a length of thestand 560 and a thickness 572 of the display apparatus 510. For example,since a center line of the display apparatus 510 is also a center lineof the stand 560, a first distance 562 may be obtained by adding a valueobtained by dividing a first thickness 561 of the stand 560 by 2 to avalue obtained by dividing the thickness 572 by 2.

Referring to FIG. 5D, for placing the display apparatus 510, the stand560 may be disposed, such that the display apparatus 510 is not in closecontact with the wall 501.

In this case, a distance between the screen 511 of the display apparatus510 and the wall 501 may be measured based on the first thickness 561described above with reference to FIG. 5C and a distance 573 between thestand 560 and the wall 501.

Accordingly, the first distance 571 in case where the display apparatus510 is arranged as shown in FIG. 5D may be measured as an actualstraight distance between the wall 501 and the screen 511, as shown inFIG. 5D.

As shown in FIG. 5C, when the display apparatus 510 is arranged in closecontact with the wall 501, the first distance may be a fixed valueaccording to the product specification of the display apparatus 510, andmore particularly, a size or a thickness of the stand 560. In such acase, the first distance may be obtained in the same manner as themethod for obtaining the first distance in the display apparatus 510(wall-mount type) shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B.

As shown in FIG. 5D, when the display apparatus 510 is arranged to notto be in close contact with the wall 501, the display apparatus 510 mayreceive the first distance from a user. For example, the displayapparatus 510 may display a user interface screen image for setting thefirst distance, and the user may input or set the first distance throughthe displayed user interface screen image.

Hereinafter, a shadow effect applied to a first image based on a firstdistance will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B.

In detail, the controller 420 may generate a second image by applying ashadow effect to a first image, such that a shadow appears on at leastone of four sides of the first image based on the first distance. Indetail, the intensity of the shadow effect may be adjusted to beproportional to the first distance.

FIG. 6A is a diagram for describing a shadow effect applied in a displayapparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6A shows a second image 655 having applied thereto a shadow effect630, which is applied when a first distance 601 has a value of ‘D1’.

Referring to a shown coordinate 605, a wall is located on an X-Y planehaving a Z value of 0, and a screen image of the display apparatus 400is displayed on an X-Y plane having a Z value of D1. In other words, aplane 610 may be the position of the wall, and a plane 620 may be theposition of the screen image.

In detail, when the first distance 601 has a value of D1, the displayapparatus 400 may generate the second image 655 by applying a shadoweffect having an intensity proportional to the first distance 601 to afirst image, such that a user may recognize that a screen imagedisplayed on the plane 620 is displayed on the plane 610.

Here, the intensity of the shadow effect may be adjusted according to atleast one of the size and the thickness of a region in which a shadow isdisplayed and a color, a darkness, or a gray level of the shadow in theregion in which the shadow is displayed.

FIG. 6B is a diagram for describing a shadow effect applied in a displayapparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6B shows a second image 675 having applied thereto a shadow effect660, which is applied when the first distance 601 has a value of ‘D2’.In FIG. 6B, components identical to those shown in FIG. 6A are denotedby the same reference numerals. Also, D2 is a value smaller than D1.

In detail, the greater the first distance 601 is, the greater the sizeor thickness of the region in which the shadow is displayed may become.Alternatively, the greater the first distance 601 is, the higher thegray level in the region where the shadow is displayed may become, andthus a shadow may be rendered darker. Also, in the region where theshadow is displayed, a color of the shadow or a darkness of the shadowmay be uniformly applied. Alternatively, a shadow effect may be set,such that the color of the shadow becomes darker toward edges of ascreen image. In other words, as shown in FIG. 6A, the color of theshadow may be displayed darker toward edges of the second image 605.

Comparing the second images 655 and 675 respectively shown in FIGS. 6Aand 6B, a shadow display region or a shadow thickness displayed in thesecond image 675 are smaller than those in the second image 655. Inother words, when a distance between the screen of the display apparatus400 and the wall is small, a user receives an impression that adifference between distances to the screen of the display apparatus 400and the wall is small. Therefore, even when the intensity of the shadoweffect is reduced, the user may still recognize consistency between animage displayed on the screen of the display apparatus 400 and the wall.

On the other hand, when the distance between the screen of the displayapparatus 400 and the wall is large, the user feels a significantdifference between distances to the screen of the display apparatus 400and the wall. In this case, the intensity of the shadow effect isincreased, such that the user may recognize consistency between theimage displayed on the screen of the display apparatus 400 and the wall.

Also, a shadow effect may be applied in correspondence to at least oneedge of the first image. In detail, a shadow effect may be applied tothe first image in correspondence to at least one of an edge parallel toa first side 621, an edge parallel to a second side 622, an edgeparallel to a third side 623, and an edge parallel to a fourth side 624.FIG. 6A shows a case where a shadow effect is applied to an edgeparallel to the first side 621 and an edge parallel to the fourth side624.

According to an embodiment, an edge of the first image to which a shadoweffect is applied may vary depending on settings of a user. For example,a user may request to display shadows at all four edge of the firstimage. The controller 420 may then generate a second image by applying ashadow effect to all four edges of the first image based on the requestof the user.

According to an embodiment, an edge of the first image to which a shadoweffect is applied may vary depending on settings of a display apparatus.For example, when a display panel is a flat panel, a display apparatusmay apply a shadow effect, such that shadows appear on all four edges ofthe first image. In another example, when a display panel has a certaincurvature, a display apparatus may apply a shadow effect, such thatshadow appear on an edge parallel to the second side 622 and an edgeparallel to the fourth side 624 from among four edges of the firstimage.

Furthermore, an edge of the first image to which a shadow effect isapplied may be determined based on a result of detection by the sensor460. In detail, a shadow effect may be applied to the first image basedon at least one of a direction of incidence of light and intensity ofthe light, such that a shadow is rendered in a direction correspondingto the direction of incidence of the light. For example, when the sensor460 senses that light is incident in a direction from the fourth side624 of the display apparatus, a strong shadow may appear at an edgeparallel to the fourth side 624 of the first image.

Furthermore, an edge of the first image to which a shadow effect isapplied may be determined based on information about a light sourceinput by a user. In detail, the user may input information about lightsources around the display apparatus 400, e.g., information aboutposition of a window and information about position of an artificiallight source like a fluorescent lamp and/or a lighting lamp, to thedisplay apparatus 400.

In detail, the controller 420 may display a user interface screen imagefor receiving information about at least one window through which lightis incident to a space in which the display apparatus 400 is located.The user may then input information about the window to the displayapparatus 400. Based on the information input by the user and the firstdistance, the display apparatus 400 may determine an edge or edges fromamong four edges of the first image to display a shadow.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for describing an example of a screen imagedisplayed on a display apparatus according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 7, the display apparatus 210 is attached to the region200, which is the wall shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. Referring to FIG. 7, asecond image 705 to which a shadow effect is applied is displayed on thedisplay apparatus 210 according to an embodiment. The shadow effect isapplied to the second image 705 based on a first distance. In detail,shadows 710 are displayed at four edges of the second image 705.

Furthermore, the controller 420 may darken the color or the darkness ofthe shadows in outward directions of the second image 705, as in thesecond image 705 shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for describing another example of a screen imagedisplayed on a display apparatus according to an embodiment. A displayapparatus 800 shown in FIG. 8 may correspond to the display apparatus400 shown in FIG. 4. Furthermore, the display apparatus 800 may displaya second image 830 on a screen 810.

A display apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure maygenerate a virtual picture frame 820 having a thickness corresponding toa first distance and display the second image 830 such that shadows arecast by the picture frame.

In detail, the controller 420 may determine the thickness of the virtualpicture frame 820 as a first thickness based on the first distance andgenerate the second image 830 by displaying a first image in the virtualpicture frame 820 having the first thickness. In detail, a shadow effectmay be applied to the first image, to give the appearance that a shadowis cast by the virtual picture frame 820 having the first thickness.

Furthermore, during generation of the virtual picture frame 820, thedimension of the virtual picture frame excluding the thickness, e.g.,the shape, the color, and the width, of the virtual picture frame 820,may vary according to settings of users or settings of the displayapparatus 400.

The first thickness, which is the thickness of the virtual picture frame820, may be identical to or proportional to the first distance.

In detail, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, virtual picture frames 603 and604 having the first distance 601 as thicknesses thereof are generated,and the virtual picture frames 603 and 604 may be displayed over thesecond images 655 and 675, respectively. Then, the display apparatus 400may display the second images 655 and 675 over which the virtual pictureframes 603 and 604, respectively, are displayed on the screen of thedisplay 430. In FIG. 8, a first thickness 821 is a length that a virtualpicture frame 820 protrudes from a screen (that is, a plane on which inwhich a second image 830 is displayed).

Referring to FIG. 8, the display apparatus 800 may display the secondimage 830, over which the virtual picture frame 820 is displayed, on thescreen 810. Shadow 841 and shadow 842 rendered in the second image 830may be displayed darker in directions toward the virtual picture frame820.

FIG. 8 exemplifies a case in which the shadow 841 corresponding to afirst edge 831 and the shadow 842 corresponding to a fourth edge 834 aredisplayed and no shadow is displayed at a second edge 832 and a thirdedge 833. However, this is only an example, and as described above,shadows may also be provided on other edges.

When the virtual picture frame 820 is displayed over the second image830, a user may recognize that shadows displayed in the second image 830are cast by the virtual picture frame 820. Accordingly, the displayapparatus 400 may display the second image 830 including more naturalshadows.

FIG. 9A is a diagram for describing a sensor included in a displayapparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 9B is another diagram for describing a sensor included in a displayapparatus according to an embodiment.

A display apparatus 900 shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B corresponds to thedisplay apparatus 400 described above with reference to FIG. 4.According to an embodiment, the sensor 460 may include a plurality ofilluminance sensors A-D. The intensity of a shadow effect to be appliedto a first image may be adjusted according to at least one of anintensity of light (i.e., the brightness of the light) and a directionof the light sensed by the illuminance sensors A-D.

Furthermore, the illuminance sensors A-D may be disposed at a pluralityof points 911-914 adjacent to the screen of the display apparatus 900,respectively.

Referring to FIG. 9A, the display apparatus 900 may include fourilluminance sensors A-D. The four illuminance sensors A-D may bedisposed at a first point 911, a second point 912, a third point 913,and a fourth point 914, respectively. Accordingly, the display apparatus900 may sense directions of light received from all directions around ascreen 905 and intensity of light in each direction.

Alternatively, the display apparatus 900 may include two illuminancesensors (B and D). Generally, light applied to the display apparatus 900may include natural light, which is light applied through a window, andartificial light applied by an artificial light source attached to aceiling or a wall, e.g., a fluorescent lamp and/or a lighting lamp.Therefore, to sense directions in which the natural light and theartificial light are applied, it is advantageous that light sources aredetected on the left and right sides of the display apparatus 900.Accordingly, in some embodiments, the two illuminance sensors D and Bincluded in the display apparatus 900 may be disposed at the fourthpoint 914 and the second point 912, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 9B, the display apparatus 900 may include fourilluminance sensors A-D. In this embodiment, the four illuminancesensors A-D may be arranged at a fifth point 931, a sixth point 932, aseventh point 933, and an eighth point 934. Furthermore, when thedisplay apparatus 900 includes two illuminance sensors, the twoilluminance sensors included in the display apparatus 900 may bedisposed at the fifth point 931 and the sixth point 932 (i.e.,illuminance sensors A and B) or at the seventh point 933 and the eighthpoint 934 (i.e., illuminance sensors C and D), respectively.

In detail, the display apparatus 400 may apply a shadow effect based ona result of sensing by the sensor 460, such that a shadow is displayedat one or more edges of a first image. Based on a direction and a lightintensity of light sensed by the illuminance sensors A-D included in thesensor 460, the display apparatus 400 may determine one or more edgesfrom among four edges of the first image to display a shadow andintensity of the shadow. In detail, the controller 420 may determine oneor more edges from among the four edges of the first image to display ashadow and intensity of the shadow. The controller 420 may then controlthe controller 420 to apply a shadow effect to the first image accordingto results of the determinations.

FIG. 10A is a diagram for describing an example of a screen imagedisplayed on a display apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 10B is a diagram for describing another example of a screen imagedisplayed on a display apparatus according to an embodiment.

Screen images 1010 and 1040 shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B are displayed onthe display 430 of the display apparatus 400.

FIG. 10A exemplifies a case where there is provided an artificial light1020 above the display apparatus 400 as a light source for applyinglight to the display apparatus 400.

Referring to FIG. 10A, since a light source is above the displayapparatus 400, the display apparatus 400 may display a shadow in aregion 1021 corresponding to the upper edge of a screen 1005. Also, thecolor of the shadow may be displayed darker in a direction toward theupper edge, that is, a direction toward the light source.

FIG. 10B exemplifies a case where there is provided an artificial light1030 at a position above and right of the display apparatus 400 as alight source for applying light to the display apparatus 400.

Referring to FIG. 10B, since a light source is at a position above andright of the display apparatus 400, the display apparatus 400 maydisplay a shadow in a region 1042 corresponding to the upper edge of thescreen 1045 and a region 1043 corresponding to the right edge of thescreen 1045. Also, the color of the shadow may be displayed darker indirections toward the upper edge and the right edge, that is, adirection toward the light source.

Also, the display apparatus 400 may additionally adjust the intensity ofthe shadow effect depending on whether a screen image is output duringthe daytime or at night. Generally, during the daytime, a lot of lightis applied to the display apparatus 400 through a window or the like,and an amount of light applied to the display apparatus 400 is reducedat night. Accordingly, the controller 420 may control to display theshadow to be rendered darker in the second image displayed during thedaytime and to display the shadow to be rendered lighter in the secondimage output at night.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display apparatus in which a displaypanel has a curvature.

FIG. 11 shows an embodiment in which a display apparatus 1100 having acertain curvature is attached to a wall 1101. In other words, thedisplay apparatus 1100 may also be referred to as a curved displayapparatus 1100. The display apparatus 1100 corresponds to the displayapparatus 400 shown in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 11, a distance between a screen 1111 of the displayapparatus 1100 and the wall 1101 increases in directions from the centerof the display apparatus 1100 toward both ends of the display apparatus1100. In detail, a distance between the screen 1111 of the displayapparatus 1100 and the wall 1101 at the center of the display apparatus1100 is a sum of a thickness d11 1131 of a wall mount 1105 and athickness d13 1132 of the display apparatus 1100. Furthermore, adistance between the screen 1111 of the display apparatus 1100 and thewall 1101 at an end point (e.g., 1121 or 1122) of the display apparatus1100 is a thickness d12 1130, which is greater than a sum of thethickness d11 1131 of the wall mount 1105 and the thickness d13 1132 ofthe display apparatus 1100.

According to an embodiment, as the display apparatus 400 is locatedfarther from the wall 1101, the value of the first distance increases.Furthermore, the display apparatus 400 may set the intensity of a shadoweffect proportional to the first distance. Therefore, the displayapparatus 1100 including a display panel having a certain curvature mayincrease the intensity of shadow effects on a left side 1122 and a rightside 1121 of the screen 1111 of the display apparatus 1100 as thedisplay apparatus 1100 is located farther from the wall 1101. In detail,the controller 420 may display larger and darker shadows in regions inthe first image corresponding to the left side 1122 and the right side1121 of the screen 1111 as the display apparatus 1100 is located/movedfarther from the wall 1101.

Furthermore, when the display apparatus 400 is a curved displayapparatus 1100, the first distance may be obtained based on regionscorresponding to the left side 1122 and the right side 1121 of thescreen 1111. In other words, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, thefirst distance may be d12 1130 or a value proportional to d12 1130.

Also, when the display apparatus 400 is the curved display apparatus1100, the first distance may be set based on the curvature of a displaypanel. For example, the greater the curvature of the display panel is,the farther the regions corresponding to the left side 1122 and rightside 1121 of the screen 1111 will be from the wall. Accordingly, thecontroller 420 may set the first distance value to a value proportionalto the curvature of the display panel.

Here, curvature information may be included in product informationstored in the display apparatus 400. In this case, the controller 420may use the stored curvature information.

Furthermore, the display apparatus 400 may obtain the curvature of thedisplay panel through the communicator 410. In detail, the displayapparatus 400 may store product information like a product model, aserial number, a product version, etc. The controller 420 of the displayapparatus 400 may obtain the first distance by using productspecification information stored in the display apparatus 400. Forexample, the controller 420 may access the service center server of thedisplay apparatus 400 through the communicator 410 and transmit productinformation to the service center server. Then, the service centerserver may transmit curvature information corresponding to the productinformation of the display apparatus 400 to the display apparatus 400 inresponse thereto.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a position of a person recognized by adisplay apparatus according to an embodiment. A display apparatus 1200corresponds to the display apparatus 400 shown in FIG. 4.

According to an embodiment, the sensor 460 of the display apparatus 400may further include a sensor E for sensing a position of a user. Indetail, the sensor 460 may sense a position of a line of sight, such asa direction and a height of the line of sight, of a user viewing ascreen of the display apparatus.

In detail, the sensor 460 may further include at least one sensor Ecapable of recognizing a position of a user, e.g., an image sensorand/or an infrared sensor. In detail, the image sensor E may be disposedon a front surface 1210 of the display apparatus 1200 and may capture animage ahead (i.e., in front of) of the display apparatus 1200.Furthermore, the display apparatus 1200 may recognize a person being anobject in a capture image and determine a position of the recognizedobject as a position of a user. Furthermore, in the case of an infraredsensor, the infrared sensor may detect infrared rays emitted from a userin front of the display apparatus 1200. In this case, the displayapparatus 1200 may determine the location of a user based on a result ofthe detection by the infrared sensor.

Next, the controller 420 may generate a second image by applying ashadow effect to a first image based on the position of the user and adistance. Here, the position of the user may refer to a position of aline of sight, such as a direction and a height of the line of sight, ofthe user viewing a screen of the display apparatus 400.

The controller 420 may control to adjust the intensity of a shadoweffect to be applied to the first image based on the position of theuser and the first distance.

FIG. 12 shows a screen image 1220 including a second image obtained byapplying a shadow effect to a first image when a user 1252 is in frontof a center portion of the display apparatus 1200. When the user 1252 isin front of the center portion of the display apparatus 1200, a shadowapplied to the first image may be uniformly displayed throughout ascreen image. In other words, shadows may be displayed with uniformthickness and uniform intensity at four sides of the screen image 1220like a shadow 1230 displayed in the screen image 1220.

When a user 1251 is in front of the left portion of the displayapparatus 1200, a shadow displayed on the left side of the screen image1220, which is a shadow displayed on a side close to the user 1251, maybe displayed darker, whereas a shadow displayed on the right side of thescreen image 1220, which is a shadow displayed on a side far from theuser 1251, may be displayed relatively lighter.

On the contrary, when the user 1253 is in front of the right portion ofthe display apparatus 1200, a shadow displayed on the right side of thescreen image 1220, which is a shadow displayed on a side close to theuser 1253, may be displayed darker, whereas a shadow displayed on theleft side of the screen image 1220, which is a shadow displayed on aside far from the user 1253, may be displayed relatively lighter.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, when the display apparatus 1200displays a second image including a virtual picture frame as shown inFIG. 8, the display apparatus 1200 may adjust a position, a size, and adarkness of a shadow cast by the virtual picture frame in the secondimage according to a position of a user, that is, a position of a lineof sight of the user.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface screen imagedisplayed on a display apparatus according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment, the display apparatus 400 may externallyreceive or set a wall image corresponding to a second image. In detail,the display apparatus 400 may receive an input from a user.

[0230] Referring to FIG. 13, the display 430 may output a user interfacescreen image 1300.

The user interface screen image 1300 may include a menu window 1310 forrequesting inputting or setting a wall image.

To set a wall image, a user may select a key menu 1311 (YES) thatrequests setting. When the key menu 1311 requesting setting of a wallimage is input, the display apparatus 400 may subsequently perform anoperation for receiving the wall image. For example, a message ‘pleaseinput a wall image via USB port’ may be displayed. Then, the user mayinput video data including the wall image to the display apparatus 400through a USB port. In another example, a message ‘please activate awireless network and transmit a wall image’ may be displayed. Then, theuser may activate a Wi-Fi network of an external device (e.g., asmartphone (not shown) of the user) that is to be connected to thedisplay apparatus 400 via a wireless network and transmit a first imageto the display apparatus 400 via the Wi-Fi network.

When a key menu 1312 (NO) for not requesting setting of a wall image isinput, the display apparatus 400 may provide the user with imagescorresponding to famous paintings, images corresponding to landscapes,and photograph images instead of a wall image. In detail, the displayapparatus 400 may display a user interface screen image (not shown) viawhich a plurality of famous paintings may be selected. The user may thenselect any one famous painting on the user interface screen image (notshown). The display apparatus 400 may then set the selected famouspainting as the first image and generate a second image by applying ashadow effect to the first image. Next, the second image may bedisplayed. In this case, the user would be able to use the displayapparatus 400 like as a framed famous painting.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams showing other examples of user interfacescreen images displayed on a display apparatus according to anembodiment.

The controller 420 may control to output a user interface screen imagefor receiving information about a first distance.

Referring to FIG. 14A, a user interface screen image 1410 may include amenu window 1420 for setting the first distance, which is a distancebetween a display apparatus and a wall.

A user may select at least one of selection keys included in the menuwindow 1420 through the user interface 450.

In detail, the user may select a ‘Yes’ key of the menu window 1420 tocontinue setting of the first distance. When the user selects a ‘No’ keyin the menu window 1420, displaying of the screen image may beterminated without setting the first distance.

The display apparatus 400 may output a user interface screen image 1430subsequent to the user interface screen image 1410. The user interfacescreen image 1430 may include a menu window 1440 for automatically ormanually setting the first distance.

In detail, the user may select an ‘Input’ key 1441 of the menu window1420 to continue manual setting of the first distance.

Also, the user may select an ‘automatic setting’ key 1442 of the menuwindow 1440 to continue automatic setting of the first distance. Whenthe user selects the ‘automatic setting’ key 1442, the controller 420controls to automatically measure or obtain the first distance. Forexample, the controller 420 may automatically access a service server ofthe manufacturer of the display apparatus 400 through the communicator410 and obtain information about the first distance.

Referring to FIG. 14B, when the ‘Input’ key 1441 is selected in the menuwindow 1440, the display apparatus 400 may output a user interfacescreen image 1450 including a menu window 1460 for manually setting thefirst distance.

In detail, the menu window 1460 may include a menu 1462 for inputting adetailed value of the first distance. Furthermore, the menu window 1460may further include a message 1461 indicating that the first distancewill be manually set. Furthermore, the menu window 1460 may furtherinclude a key 1463 for requesting an update of the first distance thatis already set.

For example, when the user selects the key 1463, the display apparatus400 may delete a previously stored first distance value and may receiveor set a new first distance, and store the new first distance.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for describing another example of a user interfacescreen image displayed on a display apparatus according to anembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 15, the display apparatus 400 may display a userinterface screen image 1500 for setting a virtual picture framedisplayed over a second image.

In detail, the controller 420 may control to display the user interfacescreen image 1500 for setting at least one of a color and a shape of avirtual picture frame displayed over the second image. A user may inputinformation about at least one of a color and a shape of the virtualpicture frame to the display apparatus 400 through the user interface450. Next, the controller 420 may determine at least one of a color anda shape of the virtual picture frame based on the setting of the user.

Referring to FIG. 15, the user interface screen image 1500 may include amenu window 1520 for setting at least one of a color and a shape of avirtual picture frame. The menu window 1520 may include a menu 1530 forsetting a color of a virtual picture frame and a menu 1540 for setting athickness (width) of the virtual picture frame.

In the virtual picture frame, a thickness indicating a depth from ascreen of the display apparatus 400 to a wall (e.g., the first thicknessdescribed above with reference to FIG. 7) may be a value identical tothe first distance or a value that is a value proportional to the firstdistance. Therefore, the thickness is not a value that may be setthrough the menu window 1520 and is set by the display apparatus 400. Inother words, the menu 1540 is for setting the thickness of the virtualpicture frame (see, e.g., thickness 821 in FIG. 8) and not for settingthe first distance, which is a thickness indicating a depth from ascreen of the display apparatus 400 to the wall.

Furthermore, the user interface screen image 1500 may include a virtualpicture frame 1510 that reflects the items selected through the menuwindow 1520. In other words, when a shape of a virtual picture frame isset through the menu window 1520, the controller 420 may display theuser interface screen image 1500, to which the virtual picture framegenerated according to settings is applied, in real time, such that thata user may preview the set virtual picture frame. In other words, thecontroller 420 may provide a preview function of a virtual picture framegenerated according to setting.

FIG. 16A is a diagram for describing an example of a screen imagedisplayed on a display apparatus according to an embodiment.

The display apparatus 400 may display a graphic image 1610 representinga virtual clock over a second image 1600. When the graphic image 1610representing a virtual clock is displayed over the second image 1600, auser may receive an impression of a clock attached onto the wall.Furthermore, time information may be provided to the user without aseparate wall clock.

In detail, the graphic image 1610 may represent the appearance of aclock with a shadow. In detail, the graphic image 1610 may include theappearance of a clock having a thickness corresponding to a firstdistance and a shadow casted on the clock. In this case, the secondimage is displayed with a same depth as that of a wall behind thedisplay apparatus 400, and the virtual clock has a thicknessproportional to the first distance, thus being displayed that thevirtual clock is protruding from the wall.

FIG. 16B is a diagram for describing another example of a user interfacescreen image displayed on a display apparatus according to anembodiment.

According to an embodiment, the controller 420 may control to display auser interface screen image 1630 for setting the type of a virtual clockdisplayed over the second image 1600 and the intensity of a shadoweffect to be applied to the virtual clock.

Referring to FIG. 16B, the user interface screen image 1630 may includea menu window 1650 including a menu 1651 for selecting a virtual clock.Furthermore, the menu window 1650 may further include a menu 1652 forsetting the intensity of a shadow effect to be applied to the virtualclock. Here, the menu 1652 may be a menu for adjusting the intensity ofshadow effect to adjust a stereoscopic impression or a depth of thevirtual clock.

For example, when an adjust key 1564 for selecting a shadow effect ismoved to a value close to zero of an adjust bar 1563, a shadow willhardly be displayed over the virtual clock (i.e., an opaque shadow).Meanwhile, when the adjust key 1564 is moved to a value close to 100 ofthe adjust bar 1563, larger and darker shadow may be displayed over thevirtual clock.

Thus, the user may set through the user interface screen image 1630,such that a virtual clock having a most wanted shape and a mostcomfortable stereoscopic impression is displayed over the second image.

Furthermore, when the user selects a virtual clock through the menuwindow 1650, the controller 420 may control to display the userinterface screen image 1630 including a clock 1640 reflecting selectionsin real time.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a display apparatus according toanother embodiment.

A display apparatus 1700 according to an embodiment may correspond toone of the display apparatuses (e.g., 400) described above withreference to FIGS. 1 to 16B. Therefore, descriptions of the displayapparatus 1700 identical to the descriptions given above with those inFIGS. 1 to 16B will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 17, the display apparatus 1700 includes a videoprocessor 1710, a display 1715, an audio processor 1720, an audio outputunit 1725, a power supply 1730, a tuner 1740, a communicator 1750, adetector 1760, an input/output unit 1770, a controller 1780, and astorage 1790.

At least one of the input/output unit 1770 and the communicator 1750,the display 1715, the controller 1780, the detector 1760, and thestorage 1790 of the display apparatus 1700 shown in FIG. 17 correspondto the communicator 410, the display 430, the controller 420, the sensor460, and the memory 480 of the display apparatus 400 shown in FIG. 4,respectively. Therefore, descriptions of the display apparatus 1700identical to those given above in relation to the display apparatus 400will be omitted.

The video processor 1710 processes video data received by the displayapparatus 1700. The video processor 1710 may perform various imageprocessing tasks with regard to video data, such as decoding, scaling,noise filtering, frame rate transformation, and resolutiontransformation.

The controller 1780 may control to receive a write request regarding thevideo data processed by the video processor 1710, encrypt the videodata, and write encoded video data in a memory device (not shown)included in the controller 1780 or the storage 1790, e.g., a RAM (notshown).

The display 1715 displays a video included in a broadcast signalreceived via the tuner 1740, under the control of the controller 1780.Furthermore, the display 1715 may display content (e.g., a movingpicture) input via the communicator 1750 or the input/output unit 1770.

Furthermore, the display 1715 may output an image stored in the storage1790, under the control of the controller 1780. Furthermore, the display1715 may display a voice user interface (UI) (e.g., a UI including avoice instruction guide) for performing a voice recognition task or amotion UI (e.g., a UI including a user motion guide for motionrecognition) for performing a motion recognition task.

The audio processor 1720 processes audio data. The audio processor 1720may perform various audio processing tasks with regard to audio data,such as decoding, amplification, and noise filtering. Meanwhile, theaudio processor 1720 may include a plurality of audio processing modulesfor processing audios corresponding to a plurality of content.

The audio output unit 1725 outputs an audio included in a broadcastsignal received via the tuner 1740, under the control of the controller1780. The audio output unit 1725 may output an audio (e.g., a voice or asound) input via the communicator 1750 and/or the input/output unit1770, under the control of the controller 1780. Furthermore, the audiooutput unit 1725 may output an audio stored in the storage 1790, underthe control of the controller 1780. The audio output unit 1725 mayinclude at least one of a speaker 1726, a headphone output terminal1727, and a Sony/Philips digital interface (S/PDIF) output terminal1728. The audio output unit 1725 may include a combination of thespeaker 1726, the headphone output terminal 1727, and the S/PDIF outputterminal 1728.

The power supply 1730 supplies power input from an external power sourceto internal components 1710 through 1790 of the display apparatus 1700under the control of the controller 1780. Furthermore, the power supply1730 may supply power output by one, two, or more batteries (not shown)disposed in the display apparatus 1700 to internal components 1710 to1790 of the display apparatus 1700 under the control of the controller1780.

The tuner 1740 may tune and select frequency corresponding to a channelto be received by the display apparatus 1700 among a large number offrequency ingredients in a broadcasting signal that is received via awire or wirelessly by amplifying, mixing, and resonating thebroadcasting signal. A broadcasting signal includes an audio datasignal, a video signal, and additional information (e.g., electronicprogram guide (EPG)).

The tuner 1740 may receive a broadcasting signal in a frequency bandcorresponding to a channel number (e.g., a cable broadcast No. 506)based on a user input (e.g., a control signal received from an externalcontrol apparatus (not shown), such as a channel number input, a channelup-down input, and a channel input on an EPG screen image).

The tuner 1740 may receive a broadcasting signal from various sources,such as a ground wave broadcasting service, a cable broadcastingservice, a satellite broadcasting service, and an internet broadcastingservice. The tuner 1740 may receive a broadcasting signal from sourceslike an analog broadcasting service or a digital broadcasting service. Abroadcasting signal received by the tuner 1740 is decoded (e.g., audiodecoding, video decoding, or additional information decoding) and issplit to an audio signal, a video signal, and/or additional information.The audio signal, the video signal, and/or the additional informationobtained from the broadcasting signal may be stored in the storage 1790under the control of the controller 1780.

The display apparatus 1700 may include one tuner 1740 or a plurality oftuners 1740. In one embodiment, when the display apparatus 1700 includesthe plurality of tuners 1740, a plurality of broadcast signals may beoutput to a plurality of windows constituting a multi-window screenimage provided to the display 1715.

The tuner 1740 may be integrated with the display apparatus 1700, may beembodied as an independent device (e.g., a set-top box (not shown))having a tuner electrically connected to the display apparatus 1700, ormay be embodied as a tuner (not shown) connected to the input/outputunit 1770.

The communicator 1750 may connect the display apparatus 1700 to anexternal device (e.g., an audio device) under the control of thecontroller 1780. The controller 1780 may transmit/receive contentto/from the external device connected via the communicator 1750,download an application from the external device, or browse web pagesvia the external device. In detail, the communicator 1750 may access anetwork and receive content from an external device (not shown).

As described above, the communicator 1750 may include at least one of ashort-range communication module (not shown), a wire communicationmodule (not shown), and a mobile communication module (not shown).

FIG. 17 shows a case where the communicator 1750 includes a wireless LANmodule 1751 and a Bluetooth module 1752 (i.e., a wire Ethernet module1753 is shown in dotted lines). However, this is only an example.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the communicator 1750 may include acombination of the wireless LAN module 1751, the Bluetooth module 1752,and the wire Ethernet module 1753. The communicator 1750 may receive acontrol signal of a control apparatus (not shown) under the control ofthe controller 1780. A control signal may be embodied as a Bluetoothsignal, a RF signal, or a Wi-Fi signal.

The communicator 1750 may include short-range wireless communicationmodules other than the Bluetooth module 1752, e.g., a near fieldcommunication (NFC) module (not shown), a Bluetooth low energy (BLE)module, etc.

The detector 1760 may detect a voice of a user, an image of the user, oran interaction of the user.

The microphone 1761 receives a voice uttered by a user. The microphone1761 may transform a received voice into an electric signal and outputthe electric signal to the controller 1780. A user's voice may include avoice corresponding to a menu or a function of the display apparatus1700. For example, a voice recognition range of the microphone 1761 maybe within a distance about 4 meters from the microphone 1761, where thevoice recognition range of the microphone 1761 may vary based on thevolume of a voice of a user and surrounding environmental conditions(e.g., a volume of a speaker, ambient noise, etc.).

The microphone 1761 may be integrated with the display apparatus 1700 ormay be embodied as an independent device. The microphone 1761 may beindependent and be electrically connected to the display apparatus 1700via the communicator 1750 or the input/output unit 1770.

According to an embodiment, the microphone 1761 may receive a sound wavesignal other than a user's voice. In detail, the microphone 1761 mayreceive an ultrasound signal.

In some embodiments, the microphone 1761 may be omitted according toperformances and structures of the display apparatus 1700.

A camera 1762 receives an image (e.g., successive frames) correspondingto a user's motion including a gesture within a recognition range of thecamera 1762. For example, the recognition range of the camera 1762 maybe within a distance from about 0.1 m to about 5 m from the camera 1762.A user's motion may include a motion of a body part of the user, e.g., aface, a face expression, a hand, a fist, a finger, etc. The camera 1762may transform a received image into an electric signal and output theelectric signal to the controller 1780, under the control of thecontroller 1780. The camera 1762 may correspond to the camera 440 shownin FIG. 4.

By using a received result of motion recognition, the controller 1780may select a menu displayed on the display apparatus 1700 or perform atask corresponding to the result of the motion recognition. For example,the controller 1780 may change channel, adjust volume, or move a cursor.

The camera 1762 may include a lens (not shown) and an image sensor (notshown). The camera 1762 may provide optical zoom or digital zoom byusing a plurality of lenses and image processing techniques. Therecognition range of the camera 1762 may vary according to angles of thecamera 1762 and surrounding environmental conditions. When the camera1762 includes a plurality of cameras, a 3-dimensional (3D) still imageor a 3D motion may be received by using the plurality of cameras.

The camera 1762 may be integrated with the display apparatus 1700 or maybe embodied as an independent device. An independent device (not shown)including the camera 1762 may be electrically connected to the displayapparatus 1700 via the communicator 1750 and/or the input/output unit1770.

According to an embodiment, the camera 1762 may capture an image aheadof the display apparatus 1700, thereby sensing a position of a user or aposition of a line of sight of the user.

In some embodiments, the camera 1762 may be omitted according toperformances and structures of the display apparatus 1700.

A light receiver 1763 receives an optical signal (including a controlsignal) from an external control apparatus (not shown) via an opticalwindow (not shown) of the bezel of the display 1715. The light receiver1763 may receive an optical signal corresponding to a user input (e.g.,a touch, a press, a touch gesture, a voice, or a motion) from thecontrol apparatus. A control signal may be retrieved from the receivedoptical signal under the control of the controller 1780.

For example, the light receiver 1763 may receive a signal correspondingto a position pointed by a control device (not shown) and transmit thesignal to the controller 1780. For example, in case where a userinterface screen image for receiving data or instructions from a user isdisplayed through the display 1715 and a user wants to input data orinstructions to the display apparatus 1700 through a control device (notshown), when the user moves the control device (not shown) whilecontacting a finger to a touch pad (not shown) provided on the controldevice (not shown), the light receiver 1763 may receive a signalcorresponding to the movement of the control device (not shown) andtransmit the signal to the controller 1780. Furthermore, the lightreceiver 1763 may receive a signal indicating that a particular buttonprovided on the controller (not shown) is pressed and transmit thesignal to the controller 1780. For example, when the user presses abutton-type touch pad (not shown) provided on the control device (notshown) with a finger, the light receiver 1763 may receive a signalindicating that the button-type touch pad (not shown) is pressed andtransmit the signal to the controller 1780. For example, the signalindicating that the button-type touch pad (not shown) is pressed may beused as a signal for selecting one of items.

The input/output unit 1770 receives a video (e.g., moving pictures,etc.), an audio (e.g., voice, music, etc.), and additional information(e.g., an EPG, etc.) from outside of the display apparatus 1700 underthe control of the controller 1780. The input/output unit 1770 mayinclude at least one of a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI)port 1771, a component jack 1772, a PC port 1773, and a USB port 1774.The input/output unit 1770 may include a combination of the HDMI port1771, the component jack 1772, the PC port 1773, and the USB port 1774,as shown in FIG. 17.

Configurations and operations of the input/output unit 1770 may varyaccording to example embodiments.

The controller 1780 controls the overall operations of the displayapparatus 1700, controls signal flows between internal components 1710through 1790 of the display apparatus 1700, and processes data. When auser input is applied or a certain pre-set condition is satisfied, thecontroller 1780 may execute an operating system (OS) and variousapplications stored in the storage 1790.

The controller 1780 may include a RAM (not shown) that stores a signalor data input from outside of the display apparatus 1700 or is used as astorage area corresponding to various tasks performed by the displayapparatus 1700, a ROM (not shown) having stored therein control programsfor controlling the display apparatus 1700, and a processor 1781.

According to an embodiment, the controller 1780 may control to performoperations for generating and displaying a second image.

The processor 1781 may include a graphics processing unit (GPU) (notshown) for processing graphics data corresponding to a video. Theprocessor 1781 may be embodied as a system-on-chip (SoC) havingintegrated thereon a core (not shown) and a GPU (not shown). Theprocessor 1781 may be a hardware processor and may include a singlecore, dual cores, triple cores, quad cores, and cores in multiplesthereof

Furthermore, the processor 1781 may include a plurality of processors.For example, the processor 1781 may include a main processor (not shown)and a sub processor (not shown) that operates in a sleep mode.

The processor 1781 may include a graphic processor (not shown) whichgenerates a screen image including various objects, such as icons,images, and texts, by using a calculator (not shown) and a renderer (notshown). The calculator calculates property values, such as coordinates,shapes, sizes, and colors for displaying respective objects, accordingto layouts of screen images by using a detected user interaction. Therenderer generates screen images of various layouts including objectsbased on property values calculated by the calculator. A screen imagegenerated by the renderer is displays in a display area of the display1715.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an image processing method according to anembodiment.

An image processing method 1800 according to an embodiment is a methodof processing an image to be displayed in a display apparatus. The imageprocessing method 1800 is identical to the operations performed in thedisplay apparatus (e.g., 400) according to an embodiment described abovewith reference to FIGS. 1 to 17. Therefore, descriptions of the imageprocessing method 1800 according to the embodiment identical to thedescriptions given above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 17 will beomitted. Hereinafter, the image processing method 1800 will be describedwith reference to the display apparatus 400 shown in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 18, in the image processing method 1800, an image isreceived from an external device (not shown) (operation S1810). Indetail, a first image, which is an image of a wall behind the displayapparatus 400, is obtained in the operation S1810. The operation 51810may be performed through the communicator 410. In detail, the operation51810 may be performed through the communicator 410 under the control ofthe controller 420.

Information about a first distance corresponding to a distance betweenthe front surface of the display apparatus 400 and the wall is obtained(operation S1820). The operation S1820 may be performed under thecontrol of the controller 420. Furthermore, the information about thefirst distance may be obtained by various methods, e.g., a manualsetting of a user, an automatic acquisition based on productinformation, etc.

A second image is generated by applying a shadow to the first imagebased on the information about the first distance (operation S1830). Indetail, when an image received from the external device is displayed onthe display 430 included in the display apparatus 400, a shadow effectmay be applied to at least one of the four sides of the first image,which is the image received from the external device, based on the firstdistance, thereby generating the second image. The operation S1830 maybe performed through the controller 420.

The image generated in the operation S1830 is displayed (operationS1840). In detail, the second image generated in the operation S1830 isdisplayed through the display 430 in the operation S1840. The operationS1840 may be performed through the display 430. In detail, the operationS1840 may be performed through the display 430 under the control of thecontroller 420.

One or more embodiments may be implemented by a computer-readablerecording medium, such as a program module executed by a computer. Thecomputer-readable recording medium may be an arbitrary available mediumaccessible by a computer, and examples thereof include all volatilemedia (e.g., RAM) and non-volatile media (e.g., ROM) and separable andnon-separable media. Further, examples of the computer-readablerecording medium may include a computer storage medium and acommunication medium. Examples of the computer storage medium includeall volatile and non-volatile media and separable and non-separablemedia, which have been implemented by an arbitrary method or technology,for storing information such as computer-readable instructions, datastructures, program modules, and other data. The communication mediumtypically include a computer-readable instruction, a data structure, aprogram module, other data of a modulated data signal, or anothertransmission mechanism, and an example thereof includes an arbitraryinformation transmission medium. In addition, some embodiments may beimplemented as computer programs or computer program products includinginstructions executable by a computer, such as computer programsexecuted by a computer.

An image processing method according to an embodiment and a displayapparatus therefor may display a screen image having a same depthimpression as that of a wall behind the display apparatus. Therefore, auser may recognize that the wall behind the display apparatus and asecond image displayed on a screen of the display are consistent andcontinuous with regard to each other.

It should be understood that embodiments described herein should beconsidered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation. Descriptions of features or aspects within each embodimentshould typically be considered as available for other similar featuresor aspects in other embodiments.

While one or more embodiments have been described with reference to thefigures, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the artthat various changes in form and details may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display apparatus comprising: a display; acommunicator configured to communicate with an external device; a memorystoring one or more instructions; and a controller comprising at leastone processor configured to: execute the one or more instructions storedin the memory to obtain an image; obtain a first distance correspondingto a distance between the display apparatus and a wall behind thedisplay apparatus; and when the image is displayed on the display, applya shadow effect to at least one of four sides of the image, wherein atleast one of an area of a region in the image to which the shadow effectis applied and a darkness of a shadow in the region is adjusted based onthe first distance.
 2. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein theprocessor is further configured to execute the one or more instructionsto adjust an intensity of the shadow effect to generate a depthimpression of the image that corresponds to a depth impression of thewall behind the display apparatus.
 3. The display apparatus of claim 1,further comprising: a sensor configured to sense a state of a lightsource, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the oneor more instructions to apply the shadow effect on at least one of thefour sides of the image based on the state of the light source and thefirst distance.
 4. The display apparatus of claim 3, wherein the sensorcomprises a plurality of illuminance sensors configured to sense anintensity and a direction of light from the light source, and theprocessor is further configured to execute the one or more instructionsto adjust an intensity of the shadow effect applied to the image basedon the first distance, and the intensity and direction of the light fromthe light source.
 5. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein theprocessor is further configured to execute the one or more instructionsto: determine a thickness of a virtual picture frame as a firstthickness based on the first distance; apply the shadow effect in thevirtual picture frame having the first thickness to the image; anddisplay the image having applied thereto the shadow effect in thevirtual picture frame having the first thickness.
 6. The displayapparatus of claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured toexecute the one or more instructions to adjust at least one of the areaof a region in the image to which the shadow effect is applied and thedarkness of the shadow in the region to which the shadow effect isapplied, based on the first thickness.
 7. The display apparatus of claim5, further comprising: a user interface, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: execute the one or more instructions to display auser interface screen image for setting at least one of a color and ashape of the virtual picture frame; control the user interface toreceive information about at least one of a color and a shape of thevirtual picture frame from a user; and display the image having appliedthereto the shadow effect in the virtual picture frame having the colorand shape according to the received information.
 8. The displayapparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a user interface configured toreceive a certain instruction or information, wherein the processor isfurther configured to execute the one or more instructions to: display auser interface screen image for receiving the first distance; andcontrol the user interface to receive the first distance from a user. 9.The display apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a user interfaceconfigured to receive a certain instruction or information, wherein theprocessor is further configured to execute the one or more instructionsto display a user interface screen image for receiving information aboutat least one window in a space in which the display apparatus is locatedfor allowing light to be incident into the space.
 10. The displayapparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured toexecute the one or more instructions to apply the shadow effect on atleast one of the four sides of the image based on information about theat least one window received via the user interface and based on thefirst distance.
 11. The display apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising: at least one sensor configured to sense a position of auser, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the one ormore instructions to apply the shadow effect on at least one of the foursides of the image based on the position of the user and based on thefirst distance.
 12. A method, performed by a display apparatus, ofprocessing an image, the method comprising: obtaining an image;obtaining a first distance corresponding to a distance between thedisplay apparatus and a wall behind the display apparatus; applying,when the image is displayed on a display included in the displayapparatus, a shadow effect on at least one of four sides of the image,wherein at least one of an area of a region in the image to which theshadow effect is applied and a darkness of a shadow in the region isadjusted based on the first distance; and displaying the image to whichthe shadow effect is applied.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein theapplying of the shadow effect comprises: adjusting an intensity of theshadow effect to generate a depth impression of the image thatcorresponds to a depth impression of the wall behind the displayapparatus.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the applying of theshadow effect comprises: applying the shadow effect to at least one ofthe four sides of the image based on the first distance and based on astate of a light source sensed by using a plurality of illuminancesensors included in the display apparatus.
 15. The method of claim 12,wherein the applying of the shadow effect comprises: determining athickness of a virtual picture frame as a first thickness based on thefirst distance; applying the shadow effect in the virtual picture framehaving the first thickness to the image; and displaying the image towhich the shadow effect is applied in the virtual picture frame havingthe first thickness.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:displaying a user interface screen image for setting at least one of acolor and a shape of the virtual picture frame; receiving informationabout the at least one of a color and a shape of the virtual pictureframe; and displaying the image having applied thereto the shadow effectin the virtual picture frame having the at least one of color and shapeaccording to the received information.
 17. The method of claim 12,wherein the applying of the shadow effect comprises: applying the shadoweffect to at least one of the four sides of the image based on the firstdistance and based on a position of the user sensed by using at leastone sensor configured to sense the position of the user.
 18. Anon-transitory computer readable recording medium having recordedthereon a computer program comprising instructions executable by acomputer, wherein the program comprises: instructions for obtaining animage; instructions for obtaining a first distance corresponding to adistance a display apparatus and a wall behind the display apparatus;instructions for applying, when the image is displayed on a displayincluded in the display apparatus, a shadow effect on at least one offour sides of the image, wherein at least one of an area of a region inthe image to which the shadow effect is applied and a darkness of ashadow in the region is adjusted based on the first distance; andinstructions for displaying the image to which the shadow effect isapplied.